Electronic book and method of displaying at least one reading metric therefor

ABSTRACT

A method of displaying at least one reading metric in an electronic book includes reading machine-readable data from a machine-readable storage medium installed in the electronic book. The machine-readable data is representative of text of a book. At least one page of the text represented by the machine-readable data is displayed using the electronic book. A reading pace of a user is monitored over the at least one page, and the reading pace is displayed by the electronic book. An amount of the book which can be read at the reading pace during a remaining powering time for a battery which powers the electronic book can also be displayed. An estimated completion time for a portion of the book can be calculated and displayed based on the reading pace.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electronic books having the look andfeel of real paper books and methods of displaying reading metricstherefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various types of hand-held electronic reading devices have been proposedto electronically display textual information for reading by a user. Atypical hand-held electronic reading device includes a display device todisplay the textual information and a user interface which allows a userto navigate through the textual information and access various featuresof the electronic reading device. The display device and the userinterface are incorporated in a hand-held housing to facilitateportability of the electronic reading device.

Many hand-held electronic reading devices have a user interface in theform one or more external buttons. The buttons are depressed in apredetermined manner either to navigate through the textual informationor to access various features of the device. However, many hand-heldelectronic reading devices implement the user interface in a mannerwhich does not provide a simple, intuitive, or efficient method fornavigating the textual information or for accessing the features.

The lack of simplicity of using current hand-held electronic readingdevices along with the lack of comfort in handling many of these devicesresult in some people preferring to read a real paper book rather thanusing a hand-held electronic reading device. Further, current hand-heldelectronic reading devices provide only a limited number of featureswhich aid the user in reading books electronically.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is pointed out with particularity in the appended claims.However, other features of the invention will become more apparent andthe invention will be best understood by referring to the followingdetailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a view of an embodiment of an electronic book in a closedposition;

FIG. 2 is a view of the embodiment of the electronic book of FIG. 1 inan open position;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the electronic book;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of various hot spot locations used to providecontrol of the electronic book to a user;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a library screen display using anembodiment of the electronic book;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a user-initiated event to open the desiredbook from the library screen;

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a first page of a book displayed on anembodiment of the electronic book;

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a title page of a book displayed on anembodiment of the electronic book;

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a font selection page displayed on anembodiment of the electronic book;

FIG. 10 is an illustration of the title page of the book which isdisplayed upon exiting the font selection page;

FIG. 11 is an illustration of a system control page displayed in anembodiment of the electronic book;

FIG. 12 is an illustration of the title page of the book which isdisplayed upon exiting the system control page;

FIG. 13 is an illustration of the title page of the book wherein a radiofrequency link option is selected;

FIG. 14 is an illustration of the title page of the book wherein apacing control option is selected by a user;

FIG. 15 is an illustration of a pacing control page displayed in anembodiment of the electronic book;

FIG. 16 is an illustration of the title page of the book which depictsother user-initiated options;

FIG. 17 is an illustration of a page marked by a dog ear for use inembodiments of the electronic book;

FIG. 18 is an illustration of a dog ear dialog box used in embodimentsof the electronic book;

FIG. 19 is an illustration of a user selecting a portion of a page oftext;

FIG. 20 is an illustration of an option selection dialog box used inembodiments of the electronic book;

FIG. 21 is an illustration of an annotation display used in embodimentsof the electronic book;

FIG. 22 is an illustration of a marker used to indicate that a page hasan annotation associated therewith;

FIG. 23 is an illustration of a user selecting a set bookmark option inthe option selection dialog box;

FIG. 24 is an illustration of the page of FIG. 23 having a bookmarkdisplayed thereon;

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram of an event loop performed in an embodiment ofthe electronic book;

FIG. 26 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of alibrary graphical user interface routine for use in the electronic book;

FIGS. 27 and 28 show flow diagrams of an embodiment of the routine todisplay pages of text in the electronic book;

FIG. 29 is a flow diagram of steps performed to display a current pagein the electronic book;

FIG. 30 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of anannotation subroutine;

FIG. 31 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of a quotecapture subroutine;

FIG. 32 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of a dogear subroutine;

FIG. 33 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of apacing control subroutine;

FIG. 34 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of thefont selection subroutine;

FIG. 35 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of thesystem control subroutine; and

FIG. 36 is a flow chart summarizing steps performed to provide a methodof displaying at least one reading metric in the electronic book.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Embodiments of the present invention advantageously provide anelectronic book having a feature for displaying at least one readingmetric to assist a user in reading a book electronically. The at leastone reading metric can include information regarding a present speed ofreading of the user. Other information can be provided regarding apercentage of information that is left to be read (of a chapter, of abook, of an article, etc.). The user can insert information regarding anamount of time available to read a portion of a book, to which theelectronic book responds by displaying a reading pace which must besatisfied to complete the portion of the book. Information can also bedisplayed as to a number of pages which can be read at the present rateof reading given the state of a battery which powers the electronicbook.

FIG. 1 is a view of an embodiment of an electronic book in a closedposition. The electronic book has a book-shaped housing 100 having thelook and feel of a real, paper book. The book-shaped housing 100 has afirst housing member 102 pivotably connected to a second housing member104 to facilitate opening and closing in a book-like manner. The firsthousing member is partially formed by a book-like, front cover member106. In a similar manner, the second housing member 104 is partiallyformed by a book-like, back cover member 108. The front cover member 106and the back cover member 108 are pivotably connected by a spine member110.

To better provide the look and feel of a real book, the front covermember 106 and the back cover member 108 have an exterior made of amaterial used in real book covers. Examples of such a material include,but are not limited to, leather, simulated leather, vinyl, and a wovenfabric such as cotton. The exterior can either be permanently affixed tothe front cover member 106 and the back cover member 108, or be in theform of a removable jacket.

In addition to the front cover member 106, the first housing member 102is partially defined by an enclosure 112. Similarly, the second housingmember 104 is partially defined by an enclosure 114 in addition to theback cover member 108. When the electronic book is in the closedposition, the enclosure 112 and the enclosure 114 have an externalappearance of edges of pages of a real, paper book. In particular, theenclosures 112 and 114 define a top edge 116, a bottom edge 118, and aforedge 120 which appear as the top edge, the bottom edge, and theforedge, respectively, of a real, paper book. The top edge 116, thebottom edge 118, and the foredge 120 are recessed with respect to thefront cover member 106 and the back cover member 108.

FIG. 2 is a view of the embodiment of the electronic book of FIG. 1 inan open position. It is preferred that the first housing member 102 andthe second housing member 104 be substantially symmetric so that thefront cover member 106, the back cover member 108, and the spine member110 rest substantially flat on a flat surface in the open position. Thesubstantial symmetry makes the electronic book feel like a real, paperbook being opened to one of its middle pages. As a result, theelectronic book can be comfortably held and read in a manner consistentwith a paper book.

A touchscreen 130 is integrated in the book-shaped housing 100 to beaccessible when the book-shaped housing 100 is opened in the book-likemanner. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the touchscreen 130 isintegrated with the enclosure 114 of the second housing member 104.Optionally, a second touchscreen 132 can also be integrated in thebook-shaped housing. As illustrated, the second touchscreen 132 can beintegrated with the enclosure 112 of the first housing member 102.

The touchscreen 130 and the second touchscreen 132 each include atouch-sensitive panel over a display device. Behind the display devicecan be a backlighting element.

The touchscreen 130 and the second touchscreen 132 may provide either acolor display or a monochrome display depending on a particular model ofthe electronic book. To provide their touch sensitivity, the touchscreen130 and the second touchscreen 132 can utilize analog resistivetechnology as is known in the art. It is noted, however, that othertechnologies for providing touch sensitivity can also be utilized.

It is preferred that the touchscreen 130 and the second touchscreen 132be capable of providing backlighting to allow use of the electronic bookin poorly-lit or dimly-lit environments. More preferably, thetouchscreen 130 is capable of backlighting selected portions or subsetsof the entire touchscreen 130. Here, the electronic book can provide apower-saving mode wherein only a portion of the touchscreen 130 beingviewed by a user is actively backlit.

The book-shaped housing includes a receiving slot 134 which physicallyreceives a removable machine-readable storage medium 136. The removablemachine-readable storage medium 136 contains machine-readable datarepresentative of text from a book. Optionally, the machine-readabledata is also representative of graphical information within the book. Itis noted that the term "book" should be construed broadly as any writtenor printed composition having textual information which is read by anindividual. Hence, the term "book" should be inclusive of books,magazines, newspapers, or the like.

The text and the graphical information contained in the removablemachine-readable storage medium 136 are displayed on the touchscreen130. The second touchscreen 132 can be included to display graphicalinformation while the touchscreen 130 displays text. As another option,the touchscreen 130 and the second touchscreen 132 can displayneighboring pages of the book. Further, the touchscreen 130 and thesecond touchscreen 132 can be utilized to simultaneously view two books.The second touchscreen 132 can also be utilized in a second leveloperating system, which is herein called an advanced reader graphicaluser interface. The functionality of the second touchscreen 132 can beselected by the user using a switch or the advanced reader graphicaluser interface in the electronic book.

It is noted that there are a number of ways to encode the text and thegraphical information within the book for storage on the removablemachine-readable storage medium 136. In one embodiment, the removablemachine-readable storage medium 136 contains a series of pointers whichpoint to words contained in a dictionary within the electronic book.Words which are not contained in the dictionary are located in acustomized dictionary on the removable machine-readable storage medium136. In this way, the words to be presented on the touchscreen 130 areselected with minimal storage requirements in the removablemachine-readable storage medium 136.

Preferably, the removable machine-readable storage medium 136 is in theform of either a smart card or a PCMCIA card. Here, the receiving slot134 is shaped to receive either a smart card or a PCMCIA card.

The book-shaped housing 100 further defines a power-receiving port 138and a data-receiving port 140. The power-receiving port 138 receives aplug or other type of connector to supply power to the electronic book.Power supplied to the electronic book via the power receiving port 138can be used to directly operate the electronic book or to rechargebatteries internal to the electronic book. In one embodiment of theelectronic book, the spine member 110 is shaped to receive a combinationof battery cells which can be recharged via the power-receiving port138. If the second touchscreen 132 is not used, the enclosure 112 of thefirst housing member 102 can be used to store extra batteries and/orextra book cards.

The data port 140 is utilized to communicate signals representative ofmachine-readable data between the electronic book and an externaldevice. The data port 140 can be used, for example, to receivemachine-readable data signals representative of text and graphics in abook from the external device for storage in the electronic book. Inthis manner, the data port 140 provides an alternative to the receivingslot 134 for receiving text and graphics of a book. Additionally, thedata port 140 can be utilized to transmit machine-readable datacontained within the electronic book to the external device.

Preferably, the electronic book is automatically activated (i.e.,automatically turns on) when in the open position, and is automaticallydeactivated (i.e. automatically turns off) when in the closed position.To this end, the electronic book can include a magnet 142 incorporatedwithin one of the first housing member 102 or the second housing member,and a reed switch 144 incorporated within the other housing member. Whenthe electronic book is in the closed position, the magnet 142 isproximate to the reed switch 144. The magnetic field generated by themagnet 142 causes the reed switch 144 to assume a first switch positionwhich deactivates the electronic book. When the electronic book is inthe open position, the magnet 142 is distant from the reed switch 144.In absence of a significant magnetic field, the reed switch 144 returnsto a second switch position which activates the electronic book.

It is noted that in alternative embodiments, the electronic book isactivated and deactivated by an external switch or button (notspecifically illustrated) rather than by the reed switch 144.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the electronic book. Aninterface 150 receives the removable machine-readable storage medium 136containing machine-readable data representative of text and graphicsfrom a book. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, theinterface 150 comprises a PCMCIA interface which receives a removablemachine-readable storage medium in the form of a PCMCIA card.Physically, the interface 150 is proximate to the receiving slot 134illustrated in FIG. 2.

In general, it is preferred that the interface 150 be capable ofreceiving an external device other than a machine-readable storagemedium. Further, it is preferred that the interface 150 be capable ofreceiving a plurality of external devices. To these ends, the interface150 can comprise a plurality of similar interfaces, such as a pluralityof PCMCIA interfaces. Here, the electronic book can simultaneouslyreceive two or more of a PCMCIA memory card, a PCMCIA modem, or anotherPCMCIA device.

A processor 152 is in communication with the interface 150 to read themachine-readable data from the removable machine-readable storage medium136. The processor 152 can be in the form of a microprocessor, a customintegrated circuit, an application specific integrated circuit, or aprogrammable logic array, for example. Physically, the processor 152 ishoused within the book-shaped housing 100.

The touchscreen 130 is in communication with the processor 152 todisplay a page of the text and/or the graphics represented by themachine-readable data. Further, the touchscreen 130 acts as an inputdevice to receive user-initiated events, i.e. user-initiated actions,and communicate these user-initiated events or actions to the processor152.

An internal machine-readable storage medium 154 is in communication withthe processor 152 to support a number of operative features of theelectronic book. The internal machine-readable storage medium 154 caninclude one or more memory devices, such as a random access memory, aread-only memory, and/or an electronically erasable and programmableread-only memory (EEPROM).

A computer program or other form of software or firmware is stored inthe internal machine-readable storage medium 154. The computer programdirects the processor 152 to support the operative features of theelectronic book. Preferably, the computer program includes an event loopthat processes and responds to user-initiated events and actions. Morespecifically, received events are placed in an event queue in theinternal machine-readable storage medium 154. Each of the receivedevents is processed and removed from the event queue. As a result, auser can initiate a number of events or actions without having to waitfor previous actions to be processed.

The internal machine-readable storage medium 154 can also include adictionary to which pointers stored in the removable machine-readablestorage medium 136 point. By including the dictionary within theelectronic book, less storage space is required on the removablemachine-readable storage medium 136 to store the text from the book.

Further, the internal machine-readable storage medium 154 can containmachine-readable data representative of text and graphics from a book.Here, the processor 152 reads the machine-readable data from theinternal machine-readable storage medium 154 and commands thetouchscreen 130 to display pages of the text and graphics.

Signals are communicated between the electronic book and an externaldevice via either a data interface 156 in communication with theprocessor 152, via an antenna 158 and a radio frequency modem 160 incommunication with the processor 152, or via an infrared transceiver 161in communication with the processor. As another option, communicationbetween the electronic book and the external device can be effectuatedusing either a smart communication card or a PCMCIA communication cardreceived by the interface 150. Mere, a PCMCIA modem card or a PCMCIAinfrared transceiver card can be utilized, for example, for externalcommunication.

Optionally a voice synthesizer 162 is included in the electronic book toprovide a spoken auditory display of pages of the text read from eitherthe removable machine-readable storage medium 136 or the internalmachine-readable storage medium 154. In one embodiment, the processor152 directly converts the text from the book into speech signals for thevoice synthesizer 162. Optionally, control codes can be provided withinthe removable machine-readable storage medium 136 to allow words to bepronounced or emphasized in different ways. Further, the control codescan command the words to be spoken in either a male voice, a femalevoice, or a child's voice. The synthesized voice can be sampled (such asusing the user's voice) or can be a computer-synthesized voice.

As an alternative, a custom voice dictionary can be provided to augmenta general voice dictionary stored in the electronic book. The customizedvoice dictionary can be used for alternative pronunciations, voices, andemphasis.

The voice synthesizer 162 is either permanently integrated in theelectronic book or is a removable accessory. To facilitate removability,the voice synthesizer 162 can be embodied within a smart card or aPCMCIA card for reception by the interface 150. Alternatively, the voicesynthesizer 162 can communicate with the processor 152 via an accessoryinterface bus 163. In a similar manner, the RF modem 160 and/or thesecond touchscreen 132 can communicate with the processor 152 via theaccessory interface bus 163.

Before giving a detailed description of steps performed by the elementsof FIG. 3 for the various embodiments of the present invention, afunctional description of a particular embodiment of the electronic bookwill now be described. This embodiment is based on a single touchscreen,namely the touchscreen 130, to display the text and the graphics of thebook and to allow a user to control the electronic book. It is noted,however, that the teachings herein can also be applied to a dualtouchscreen embodiment which further includes the second touchscreen132. Furthermore, it is noted that the teachings herein are not limitedto the use of a touchscreen, and hence, can be applied to an electronicbook containing any type of display device (such as a liquid crystaldisplay or a cathode ray tube, for example) and any type of input device(such as a series of buttons, a mouse, a trackball, a lightpen, or atouchpad, for example).

FIG. 4 is an illustration of various hot spot locations used to providecontrol of the electronic book to a user. A page of the text representedby the machine-readable data read from either the removablemachine-readable storage medium 136 or the internal machine-readablestorage medium 154 is displayed on a display portion 168 of thetouchscreen 130. The display portion 168 is also utilized to displaygraphics represented by the machine-readable data.

A first hot spot portion 170 of the touchscreen 130 is designated forreceiving a predetermined user-initiated event which requests that asubsequent page of the text be displayed on the touchscreen 130. Hence,the first hot spot portion 170 can be synonymously referred to as an"advance page portion" or an "advance page hot spot" for receiving anadvance page event. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the firsthot spot portion 170 includes a top margin portion 172, a side marginportion 174, and a bottom margin portion 176 of the touchscreen 130. Thetop margin portion 172 is located above the display portion 168, theside margin portion 174 is located beside the display portion 168, andthe bottom margin portion 176 is located below the display portion 168.

A second hot spot portion 178 of the touchscreen 130 is designated forreceiving a predetermined user-initiated event which requests that aprevious page of the text be displayed. Hence, the second hot spotportion 178 can be synonymously referred to as a "page back portion" ora "page back hot spot" for receiving a page back event. In theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the second hot spot portion 178 islocated beside the display portion 168 of the touchscreen 130 andopposite the side margin portion 174.

A third hot spot portion 180 of the touchscreen 130 is designated forreceiving a predetermined user-initiated event which requests that apre-marked page be displayed on the touchscreen 130. In the embodimentof FIG. 4, the third hot spot portion 180 is located in an upper portionof the touchscreen 130 and is shaped as a bookmark graphic 182. Hence,the third hot spot portion 180 can be synonymously referred to as a"bookmark portion" or a "bookmark hot spot".

A fourth hot spot portion 184 of the touchscreen 130 is designated forreceiving a predetermined user-initiated event to close the current bookbeing read and to request that a library screen be displayed on thetouchscreen 130. The library screen is utilized by a user to select abook to read from a plurality of books within a library. Hence, thefourth hot spot portion 184 can be synonymously referred to as a "closebook portion" or a "close book hot spot" for receiving a close bookevent.

A fifth hot spot portion 186 of the touchscreen 130 is designated forreceiving a predetermined user-initiated event which requests that thedisplayed page be marked. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the fifth hotspot portion 186 is located in an upper corner of the touchscreen 130.In this embodiment, the fifth hot spot portion 186 of the touchscreen130 is utilized for dog-earring pages of the book. Hence, the fifth hotspot portion 186 can be synonymously referred to as a "dog ear portion"or a "dog ear hot spot" for receiving a dog ear event.

A sixth portion 188 of the touchscreen 130 is designated to provide adepth indication representative of how much of the book is left to beread. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the sixth portion 188 islocated above the display portion 168. The second hot spot portion 178can be utilized in conjunction with the sixth portion 188 to provide thedepth indication.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the display portion 168, the first hot spotportion 170, the second hot spot portion 178, the third hot spot portion180, the fourth hot spot portion 184, and the fifth hot spot portion 186are mutually exclusive (i.e. non-overlapping) portions of thetouchscreen 130. However, in alternative embodiments of the presentinvention, these portions may not be mutually exclusive, and hence mayoverlap. Further, some embodiments of the present invention may utilizedifferent sizes and positions for the above-described hot spot portions.

Preferably, the hot spot portions are motion sensitive so that a touchevent, a touch-and-hold event, and a drag event can be sensed toinitiate differing responses. For example, a page back event can bereceived in the form of a flipping motion (i.e. a short stroke) acrossthe second hot spot portion 178.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a library screen displayed using anembodiment of the electronic book. In a preferred embodiment, thelibrary screen is displayed upon opening the electronic book oractivating the electronic book. The library screen includes a rearwardgraphical book representation 200 having a graphical spine portion 202.A forward graphical book representation 204 is displayed in front of therearward graphical book representation 200. The forward graphical bookrepresentation 204 has a graphical spine portion 206 and a graphicalfront cover portion 208. A title 210 of a book currently being read isdisplayed on the forward graphical book representation 204. In theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the title 210 is displayed on thegraphical spine portion 206 of the forward graphical book representation204.

Upon receiving a user-initiated event in which a portion of the rearwardgraphical book representation 200 is selected, a title of another bookor books of a plurality of books in a library is displayed in place ofthe title 210 on the forward graphical book representation 204. In apreferred embodiment, the portion of the rearward graphical bookrepresentation 200 selected in this user-initiated event is within thegraphical spine portion 202.

The titles of the books in the library can be obtained from a storagemedium (which contains the books) installed in the electronic book.Alternatively, the titles of the books can be obtained by a connectionto an information service providing books or other information in realtime. As another alternative, the titles and the books can be accessedon demand from a world-wide web page.

A user can scroll through the library of books by repeatedly touchingthe spine portion 202 with his or her finger 212 until a desired booktitle is pulled into view. When the spine portion 202 is selected for alast of the plurality of books, the title of the first book isdisplayed. In this manner, the user can rotate through the library ofbooks until a desired book is in front.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a user-initiated event to open the desiredbook from the library screen. The forward book is opened upon receivinga user-initiated event in which a portion of the forward graphical bookrepresentation 204 is selected. This user-initiated event can include,for example, the user touching the front cover portion 208 of theforward graphical book representation 204 using his or her finger 212.In response to this user-initiated event, the book indicated by a title214 is opened. If the book is previously unread, the book is opened topage one. If the book has been read before, the book opens to a pagewhich was last read.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a first page of a book displayed on thetouchscreen 130 upon exiting the library screen. To display the firstpage of the book, the machine-readable data representative of text andgraphics from the book is read from either the removablemachine-readable storage medium 136 installed in the electronic book, orfrom the internal machine-readable storage medium 154. Upon reading themachine-readable data, a page of the text and/or the graphics is thendisplayed on the touchscreen 130. As shown, the text is displayed toappear as a standard page in a real book.

If a user-initiated event is received in which a user selects the secondhot spot portion 178, i.e. the page back portion, of the touchscreen 130when the book is on the first page, then a title page containing systemcontrols is displayed.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a title page of a book displayed on anembodiment of the electronic book. Information which is displayed on thetitle page includes a book title 220, author information 222, copyrightinformation 224, a Library of Congress number 226, and publisherinformation 228. Also displayed are statistics such as a total number ofpages 230 in the book, a number of pages left to be read 232, and anelapsed reading time 234.

A number of control options are also displayed. These control optionsinclude, but are not limited to, a pacing control option 236, a fontselection option 238, a system control option 240, a read-to-me option242, and a radio frequency (RF) link option 244. Any of these controloptions can be initiated by a respective user-initiated event indicativeof a user selecting the option. As illustrated in FIG. 8, a user isinitiating a font selection routine by touching the font selectionoption 238 using his or her finger 212.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a font selection page displayed on anembodiment of the electronic book. The font selection page is displayedupon an initiation of the font selection routine.

Displayed on the font selection page are a number of font/sizecombination options. Each option is in the form of a word displayedusing a specific font and a specific size in accordance with thefont/size combination. A user selects a desired font/size combination byviewing how words appear in the various combinations, and selecting thecombination which is desired. For example, in FIG. 9, the user isselecting a desired font/size combination by selecting a word 250displayed in the desired font/size combination using his or her finger212.

The fonts can be selected from internal fonts and custom fonts providedon the medium provided by a publisher. For example, a user may select aGothic font provided on a medium containing a Shakespeare work insteadof default fonts (e.g. Courier, Helvetica, Avant Garde) within theelectronic book.

Upon selecting the desired font/size combination, the electronic bookautomatically flips back to the title page containing the systemcontrols. Thereafter, the electronic book uses the desired font/sizecombination as a primary font/size combination to display the text ofthe book. Titles and headings in the book are enlarged and bolded basedupon the primary font/size combination. Other portions of text can beitalicized based on the primary font. However, it is preferred that thebody of the text never be displayed smaller than the size selected inthe primary font/size combination. In some embodiments, it may bepreferred to display footnotes in a size smaller than the size selected.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of the title page of the book which isdisplayed upon exiting the font selection page. Here, a user is shown toinitiate a system control routine by selecting the system controlsoption 240 using his or her finger 212.

FIG. 11 is an illustration of a system control page displayed in anembodiment of the electronic book. The system control page is displayedupon executing the system control routine.

The system control page provides a number of display controls includinga contrast control 254, a tint control 256, and a color control 258.Each of these controls provides a discrete number of control valueswhich can be directly selected by a user. Further, each control value isdisplayed in a graphical manner consistent with the result of itsselection. For example, the contrast control 254 includes a highcontrast graphical representation 262, an intermediate contrastgraphical representation 264, and a low contrast graphicalrepresentation 266. The graphical representations 262, 264, and 266 areof the same graphical image, but are displayed using different contrastcontrol values. Hence, a user can visually determine a desired contrastby viewing the graphical representations 262, 264 and 266. In a similarmanner, the tint control 256 and the color control 258 each display apredetermined graphical image using a discrete number of tint controlvalues and color control values, respectively.

Preferably, the display of the graphical representations within thedisplay controls are unaffected by current values of selected ones ofthe controls. In one preferred embodiment, the display of the graphicalrepresentations is independent of all of the current values. Forexample, the display of the low contrast representation 266 can beindependent of the current contrast control value, the current tintcontrol value, and the current color control value. In another preferredembodiment, the display of the graphical representations in each controlis independent of the current value of that control, but depend on thecurrent value of the other controls. Here, for example, the display ofthe low contrast representation 266 is independent of the currentcontrast control value, but dependent upon the current tint controlvalue and the current color control value. Using either of these twoembodiments, a user can immediately determine a result of each controlvalue selection before actually performing the selection.

The system control page also includes a sound control 267. The soundcontrol 267 is illustrated to have a discrete number of sound intensityvalues which can be selected by a user. In the embodiment of FIG. 11,the sound intensity values are monotonically related to the size of anear displayed on the sound control 267. An ear 268 having a slashtherethrough is indicative of an option to turn off the sound. For thepurpose of illustration, FIG. 11 shows a user selecting an intermediatesound intensity by touching an ear graphic 269. The user then returns tothe system control page by touching the second hot spot portion 178,i.e. the page back hot spot, of the touchscreen 130.

It is noted that the controls on the system control page can providecontinuous, rather than discrete, control of the control values inalternative embodiments of the electronic book. Here, for example, theear size and the volume can increase or decrease based on fingerselection movement.

A pad area 270 of the system control page is utilized for testingmotions such as a hold event, a turn event, and a mark event. Inparticular, a user can point to any of a hold selection 271, a turnselection 272, and a mark selection 273, and then perform the selectedmotion in the pad area 270. Here, a length of hold time or style ofdragging a finger for a flip command can be gauged for each user, forexample, using the pad area 270.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of the title page of the book which isdisplayed upon exiting the system control page. Here, the user isillustrated to select the read-to-me option 244 which initiates thevoice synthesizer 162 to audibly read the text being visually displayedon the touchscreen 130. The audible reading of the text begins at thelast page which was displayed on the touchscreen 130. The reading rateand other controls for the read-to-me routine is provided on a pacingcontrol page described hereinafter.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of the title page of the book wherein a radiofrequency link option is selected. This option is selected by the userby touching the RF link option 244 using his or her finger 212. Uponselecting the RF link option 244, an RF link routine is executed. The RFlink routine allows the user to download updates of the text to theelectronic book, and/or to interface the electronic book to a personalcomputer or communication unit. The RF link routine utilizes the antenna158 and the RF modem 160 illustrated in FIG. 3 to communicate with thepersonal computer using a local wireless link, or more generally tocommunicate with a wireless data communication network. Utilizing anationwide wireless data communication network, such as the Ardisnetwork, allows individuals to receive book updates via radio frequencylinks in major cities.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of the title page of the book wherein apacing control option is selected by a user. Specifically, the user isshown to initiate a pacing control routine by selecting the pacingcontrol option 236 displayed on the title page using his or her finger212.

FIG. 15 is an illustration of a pacing control page displayed in anembodiment of the electronic book. The pacing control page is displayedonce the user selects the pacing control option 236 from the title page.The pacing control page includes a display 280 of a current reading paceof the user. Based upon the number of pages left in the book, which isgiven in a display 282, a display 284 of an estimated completion timefor the book is also given. In the embodiment of FIG. 15, the currentreading pace, the number of pages left, and the estimated completiontime are displayed in the form of one or more sentences.

Also displayed on the pacing control page is a display 290 of a desiredreading pace. A display 292 of an estimated completion time inaccordance with the desired reading pace is also given. The desiredreading pace is controlled by the user using a graphical slider bar 294.The pages of the text in the book are automatically paced by a pacingroutine which is enabled and disabled by a graphical switch 296. In oneembodiment, each page of text is displayed for a duration commensuratewith the desired reading rate controlled by the graphical slider bar294. The user returns to the title page from the pacing control page byselecting the second hot spot portion 178, i.e. the page back portion,of the touchscreen 130.

FIG. 16 is an illustration of the title page of the book which depictsother user-initiated options. The user can return to a book-marked pageby selecting the bookmark graphic 182. The user can return to thelibrary screen by selecting the fourth hot spot portion 184, i.e. theclose book portion, of the touchscreen 130. The user can go to the firstpage of the book by selecting the first hot spot portion 170, i.e. theadvance page portion, of the touchscreen 130.

FIG. 17 is an illustration of a page marked by a dog ear in anembodiment of the electronic book. The user initiates a dog ear commandby performing a predetermined user-initiated event. An example of suchan event includes a user touching an upper corner portion of thetouchscreen 130, such as the fifth hot spot portion 186 defined earlier.

If the page is not dog-eared, then a brief touching of the upper cornerportion 186 causes a dog ear graphic 300 to be displayed in the uppercorner portion. In addition, an indication that this page has beendog-eared is stored either in the removable machine-readable storagemedium 136 or the internal machine-readable storage medium 154.

If the user touches the upper corner portion 186 of a page alreadymarked with a dog ear, or if the upper corner portion 186 is held for aduration greater than a predetermined threshold, then a dog ear dialogbox is opened.

FIG. 18 is an illustration of a dog ear dialog box used in embodimentsof the electronic book. A dog ear dialog box 302 is displayed ontouchscreen 130. The dog ear dialog box 302 displays a list 304 of alldog-eared pages. A user can immediately go to one of the dog-eared pageson the list 304 by touching a display of a selected page number.

The dog ear dialog box 302 also displays an option 306 to display marks308 along an edge 310 of the page. Thereafter, a user can touch any ofthe marks 308 to move quickly to a corresponding one of the dog-earedpages. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18, a mark 312 corresponds tomarked page 1, a dog ear 314 corresponds to marked page 35, a mark 316corresponds to marked page 94, a mark 318 corresponds to marked page111, and a mark 320 corresponds to marked page 120. In a preferredembodiment, page one is always marked with a dog ear so that a user canquickly return thereto using either the marks 308 or the dog ear dialogbox 302.

Upon receiving a user-initiated event while the dog ear dialog box 302is displayed, the dog ear dialog box 302 is removed to show the selectedpage of the book.

FIG. 19 is an illustration of a user selecting a portion of a page oftext. A portion 330 is selected by a user-initiated event of sliding hisfinger 212 (or other pointing member such as a stylus) from a firstposition 332 to a second position 334. Upon its selection, the portion330 of the text is highlighted in a predetermined manner. The portion330 of the text can be highlighted in color if the touchscreen 130 iscapable of a color display. Alternatively, the portion 330 of the textcan be highlighted using grey scale shading, reverse video, orunderlining. An option selection dialog box is then displayed on thetouchscreen 130 to provide the user a number of text marking options.

FIG. 20 is an illustration of an option selection dialog box used inembodiments of the electronic book. An option selection dialog box 340is displayed on the touchscreen 130 in a location out of the way of theportion 330 of the text that is marked when possible. The optionselection dialog box 340 includes a plurality of text marking optionsincluding a note capture option 342, a highlighting option 344, a quotecapture option 346, and a set bookmark option 348.

Briefly, the note capture option 342 allows a user to type in notesassociated with the portion 330 of the text. The highlighting option 344leaves the portion 330 of the text highlighted, and stores an indicationof this highlighting so that any subsequent return to this page displaysthe portion 330 as being highlighted. The quote capture option 346allows a user to store the portion 330 of the text along with sourcedata, such as the name of the author of the book or the title of thebook, in the internal machine-readable storage medium 154. The setbookmark option 348 can be selected to add a bookmark to the currentpage. If the page already has a bookmark, then a number of bookmarkmanagement options similar to options used for the dog ear command areprovided to the user.

FIG. 21 is an illustration of an annotation display used in embodimentsof the electronic book. The annotation display is provided in responseto a user selecting the note capture option 342 illustrated in FIG. 20.After receiving a user-initiated event indicative of selecting the notecapture option 342, a soft keyboard 360 is displayed on the touchscreen130. The soft keyboard 360 includes alphanumeric keys and symbolic keysalong with a close key and a notes collection key.

A plurality of keystroke events are received by the soft keyboard 360 toform an annotation. As the keystroke events are received, a plurality ofcharacters corresponding thereto are displayed in a window 362 on thetouchscreen 130.

The user selects the close key on the soft keyboard 360 upon completingthe annotation. In response to selecting the close key, the electronicbook removes the soft keyboard 360 and the window 362 from thetouchscreen 130 and displays a note marker icon to indicate that thepage has an annotation associated therewith.

The notes collection key on the soft keyboard 360 commands theelectronic book to communicate the annotation to an external device suchas a personal computer. The personal computer can be interfaced to theelectronic book either wirelessly via the antenna 158 and the radiofrequency modem 160 shown in FIG. 3, using a wire-based connection viathe data interface 156, or using an infrared link.

An annotation can also be in the form of an image of pixels whichoverlays the page of the text. The pixels can be drawn on thetouchscreen 130 using a pointing device. The pixels can be stored in apixel-map form for subsequent viewing or for subsequent conversion totext using a handwriting recognition method.

As another option, an accessory keyboard can be added to the electronicbook to enter the annotation as well as other information.

FIG. 22 is an illustration of a marker used to indicate that a page hasan annotation associated therewith. The page illustrated in FIG. 22results after the user enters the annotation and selects the close keyfrom the soft keyboard 360 as illustrated in FIG. 21. As shown, the pagein FIG. 22 no longer has the soft keyboard 360 and the window 362displayed thereon. However, a note marker icon 370 is displayed in alower corner of the page. The user can view the annotation associatedwith this page by selecting the note marker icon 370. Selecting the notemarker icon 370 has the same effect as selecting the note capture option342 as shown in FIG. 20.

Further, an annotation can be indicated by underlining or highlightingthe portion of the text associated with the annotation. The annotationcan be viewed in a hypertext-type manner by selecting the portion oftext.

FIG. 23 is an illustration of a user selecting a set bookmark option inthe option selection dialog box. The user selects the set bookmarkoption 348 by touching the displayed text associated therewith using hisor her finger 212 or other pointing member. If this page had alreadyincluded a bookmark, then a bookmark management dialog box is displayedsimilar to the one used for the dog ear command. Since the pageillustrated in FIG. 23 does not have a bookmark associated therewith,the selection of the set bookmark option 348 causes a bookmark to beadded to the page. In a preferred embodiment, only one page isbookmarked within each book.

FIG. 24 is an illustration of the page of FIG. 23 having a bookmarkdisplayed thereon. A bookmark icon 380 is displayed in an upper portionof the page to indicate that the page has been bookmarked.

It is noted that pointing devices other than an individual's finger maybe utilized to generate user-initiated events indicative of desiredselections using the touchscreen 130. For example, a stylus or the likecan be utilized to select desired portions of the touchscreen 130.

It is also noted that various types of graphical controls can beutilized to control settings and parameters of the electronic book.These graphical controls include, but are not limited to, graphicalbuttons, checkboxes, radio buttons, scroll bars, slider bars, pop-upmenus, and dialog boxes.

Next, a description of steps which are performed by the variouscomponents of the electronic book to provide its features andfunctionality is presented. These operational steps are performed on orwith the aid of the processor 152 illustrated in FIG. 3. The processor152 is directed to function in a manner in accordance with theseoperational steps based upon a computer program or other form ofsoftware or firmware stored in a computer readable memory. The computerreadable memory can be contained with the processor 152, within theinternal machine-readable memory 154, or within a separatemachine-readable storage medium in communication with the processor 152.

It is noted that the order in which the steps are described areindicative of one embodiment of the present invention, and thatalternative embodiments of the present invention may perform the stepsin a different order to achieve the same functionality.

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram of an event loop performed in an embodiment ofthe electronic book. As indicated by block 400, a step of executing alibrary graphical user interface routine is performed. The librarygraphical user interface routine provides a virtual library to allow auser to select a book to read from a plurality of books within alibrary, and/or access an information service or world-wide web page aspreviously described. The plurality of books can be contained in one ormore removable machine-readable storage media and/or the internalmachine-readable storage medium.

Upon selecting a desired book, a step of executing a routine to displayone or more pages of text and graphics from the desired book isperformed as indicated by block 402. The routine to display the pages oftext is executed until a predetermined user-initiated event is receivedto exit the routine. As indicated by block 404, if a close book event isreceived, then flow of the event loop is directed back to the step ofexecuting the library graphical user interface routine in block 400.

If a page back event is received when the current page of text beingread is page one, then a step of displaying a title page of the book isperformed as indicated by block 406. The title page provides a number ofcontrol options available to a user. The user selects a desired controloption based upon a user-initiated event. Block 408 indicates a step ofreceiving this user-initiated event.

Based upon the user-initiated event which is received, flow of the eventloop is directed to one of a number of subroutines in a step indicatedby block 410. If the received event is indicative of the user selectingthe pacing control option, then a step of executing a pacing controlroutine is performed as indicated by block 412. If the received event isindicative of the user selecting the font selection option, then a stepof executing a font selection routine is performed as indicated by block414. If the received event is indicative of the user selecting thesystem control option, then a step of executing a system controlsubroutine is performed as indicated by block 416. If the received eventis indicative of the user selecting the RF link option, then a step ofexecuting an RF link subroutine is performed as indicated by block 420.Upon completing either the pacing control subroutine, the font selectionroutine, the system control routine, or the RF link routine, flow of theevent loop is directed back up to block 406 wherein the step ofdisplaying the title page is performed.

If the received event from block 408 is indicative of the user selectingthe read-to-me option, then a step of executing a read-to-me routine isperformed as indicated by block 422. Flow of the event loop is thendirected back to block 402 to execute the routine to display pages oftext from the book. The execution of the read-to-me routine in block 422provides a spoken, auditory display of the text in addition to thevisual display of the text in block 402.

If the event received in the step of block 408 is an advance page event,then a step of setting the current page to page one is performed asindicated by block 424. If the received event is indicative of the userselecting a bookmark displayed on the title page, then a step of settingthe current page to a previously bookmarked page is performed asindicated by block 426. After the current page is set in either of thesteps indicated by blocks 424 and 426, then flow of the event loop isdirected back to the step of executing the routine to display pages oftext indicated by block 402.

Finally, if the event received in block 408 is indicative of a closebook event, then flow of the event loop is directed back to block 400 toperform a step of executing the library graphical user interfaceroutine.

FIG. 26 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of alibrary graphical user interface routine for use in the electronic book.These steps can be performed in executing the library graphical userinterface routine indicated by block 400 in FIG. 25. The steps provide amethod of selecting a book for reading in an electronic book where thebook is selected from a plurality of books in a library.

As indicated by block 430, a step of displaying a rearward graphicalbook representation having a graphical spine portion is performed. Astep of displaying a forward graphical book representation in front ofthe rearward graphical book representation is performed as indicated byblock 432. The forward graphical book representation has a graphicalspine portion and a graphical front cover portion.

As indicated by block 434, a step of displaying a title of a first bookof the plurality of books on the forward graphical book representationis performed. The title of the first book can be displayed anywhere onthe forward graphical book representation. However, in a preferredembodiment, the title of the first book is displayed on the graphicalspine portion of the forward graphical book representation. FIG. 5illustrates an example of the rearward graphical book representation 200having the graphical spine portion 202, the forward graphical bookrepresentation 204 having the graphical spine portion 206 and thegraphical front cover portion 208, and the title 210 displayed on theforward graphical book representation 204.

With reference again to FIG. 26, a step of receiving a firstuser-initiated event in which a portion of the rearward graphical bookrepresentation is selected is performed as indicated by block 436. In apreferred embodiment, the portion of the rearward graphical bookrepresentation selected in this step is within the graphical spineportion of the rearward graphical book representation. Upon receivingthe first user-initiated event, a step of displaying a title of a secondbook of the plurality of books is performed as indicated by block 440.Preferably, the title of the second book is displayed in place of thetitle of the first book on the graphical spine portion of the forwardgraphical book representation.

As indicated by block 442, a step is performed of receiving a seconduser-initiated event in which a portion of the forward graphical bookrepresentation is selected. In a preferred embodiment, the portion ofthe forward graphical book representation selected in this step iswithin the front cover portion of the forward graphical bookrepresentation. The reception of the second user-initiated event endsthe execution of the library graphical user interface routine, and flowis directed to the routine to display pages of text from the secondbook. Here, steps are performed of reading machine-readable data from amachine-readable storage medium installed in the electronic book, themachine-readable data being representative of text from the second book,and displaying the text represented by the machine-readable data.

It is noted that the steps indicated by blocks 436 and 440 can berepeated to allow the user to rotate through the plurality of books.When the first user-initiated event is received while a last of theplurality of books is displayed, the next title displayed is that of thefirst of the plurality of books.

It is preferred that steps of displaying and receiving user-initiatedevents all be performed using the touchscreen 130 integrated in theelectronic book. However, in alternative embodiments of the electronicbook which include a series of buttons external to the touchscreen 130,any of the above-described user-initiated events may be received usingthese buttons.

FIGS. 27 and 28 show flow diagrams of an embodiment of the routine todisplay pages of text in the electronic book. The steps indicated inthese flow diagrams are performed in one embodiment of the stepindicated by block 402 in FIG. 25.

Upon entering the routine, a step of displaying a current page of thebook is performed as indicated by block 450. The current page includestext from the current page of the book, a graphical display of a numberof pages remaining in the book, a display of a bookmark graphic if thereis a bookmark associated with the current page, a dog ear graphic if thecurrent page is dog-eared, and a note marker icon if there is anannotation associated with the current page. Optionally, the currentpage includes graphics from the current page of the book.

After displaying the current page, a branching step is performed, asindicated by block 452, based upon any user-initiated events which arereceived. If a user-initiated event is received which selects a portionof the text, a step of marking the portion of the text is performed asindicated by block 454. The portion of the text can be marked either bycolor or grey scale highlighting the portion of the text, underliningthe portion of the text, or displaying the portion of the text in areverse video form. The portion of the text can be selected directly bya user sliding a finger or a stylus over the portion of the text.Alternatively, the portion of the text can be selected indirectly by amenu selection technique.

After the portion of the text has been marked, a step of displaying anoption selection dialog box is performed as indicated by block 456. Theoption selection dialog box provides a plurality of options to the user,including a note capture option, a highlighting option, a quote captureoption, and a set bookmark option.

As indicated by block 460, a step of receiving a user-initiated eventindicative of a selection of one of the options is performed. Based uponthe selection, a branching step is performed as indicated by block 462.If the note capture option is selected, then a step of executing anannotation subroutine is performed as indicated by block 464. If thequote capture option is selected, then a step of executing a quotecapture subroutine is performed as indicated by block 466. If thehighlighting option is selected, then a step of executing a highlightingsubroutine is performed as indicated by block 470. If the set bookmarkoption is selected, then a step of executing a bookmark subroutine isperformed as indicated by block 472.

Upon completing the execution of either the annotation subroutine, thequote capture subroutine, the highlighting subroutine, or the bookmarksubroutine, a step of determining whether a pacing mode is active isperformed as indicated by block 474. If the pacing mode is inactive,then flow of the routine is directed back to block 452 which performs abranching step based upon a received user-initiated event. If the pacingmode is active, then a step of determining whether a highlighting modeis active is performed as indicated by block 476. If the highlightingmode is active then a step of scrolling a highlight across the currentpage is performed as indicated by block 480. Scrolling the highlightacross the current page allows pacing of a user's scanning across thecurrent page. A user can activate the highlighting mode to help enhancehis or her reading speed.

The highlight which is scrolled across the page can be in the form ofeither a color or grey scale highlight, an underlining of text, or areverse video form of text. If the touchscreen 130 is capable ofselective backlighting, then the highlight can be in the form of aselective backlighting of a reduced portion of the touchscreen 130.

After scrolling the highlight across the current page in block 480 or ifthe highlighting mode is inactive, then a step of determining whether itis time for displaying a subsequent page is performed as indicated byblock 482. If the time has not yet come for displaying a subsequentpage, then flow is directed back to block 452. If the time has arrivedfor displaying a subsequent page, then a step of updating the currentpage is performed as indicated by block 484. Next, a step of displayinga forward page turn in an animated matter is performed as indicated byblock 486. This step includes displaying an animated sequence of imageswhich simulates a forward flipping of a page. Flow of the routine isthen directed back to block 450 to display the new current page.

With reference to block 452, if a user-initiated event is receivedindicative of the user selecting the note marker icon, then the step ofexecuting the annotation routine indicated by block 464 is performed.Thereafter, subsequent steps are performed beginning with the stepindicated by block 474.

With reference to the branching step performed in block 452, if a dogear user-initiated event is received, then a step of executing a dog earroutine is performed as indicated by block 490. If the user-initiatedevent is indicative of the user selecting the bookmark portion of thepage, then a step of executing a bookmark management routine isperformed as indicated by block 491. Thereafter, subsequent steps areperformed beginning with the step indicated by block 474. Similarly, ifno user-initiated events are received in block 452, then flow of theroutine is directed to the step indicated by block 474.

If the user-initiated event is indicative of the user selecting the pageback portion of the page, then flow from block 452 branches to a step ofdecrementing the current page as indicated by block 92. Further, a stepof displaying a backward page turn in an animated matter is performed asindicated by block 494. This step includes displaying an animatedsequence of images which simulates a backward flipping of a page. Thesteps indicated by blocks 486 and 494 give the user the sense or feelthat a page of information is being turned in place, carrying forwardthe familiar paradigm of turning the page on a standard paper book.

As indicated by block 496, a step of determining whether the new currentpage is the title page is performed after the step of block 494. If thenew current page is the title page, then execution of the routine todisplay pages of text in the electronic book is completed as indicatedby block 500. If the new current page is any page but the title page,then flow of the routine is directed back to block 450 wherein a step ofdisplaying the new current page is performed.

If the user-initiated event is indicative of the user selecting theadvance page portion of the page, then flow is directed from the stepindicated by block 452 to a step of incrementing the current page asindicated by block 502. Further, a step of displaying a forward pageturn in an animated matter is performed is indicated by block 504. Flowof the routine is then directed back to block 450 wherein the new,incremented current page is displayed.

FIG. 29 is a flow diagram of steps performed to display a current pagein the electronic book. These steps constitute one embodiment of amethod of performing the step indicated by block 450 in FIG. 27.

As indicated by block 510, a step of displaying text from the currentpage of the book is performed. The text is displayed in accordance witha primary font parameter and a primary size parameter. If there is anyhighlighting associated with a portion of the text on the current page,then a step of displaying the portion of the text in a highlightedmanner is performed as indicated by block 512. If any graphicalinformation is included in the current page, then a step of displayingthe graphical information is performed as indicated by block 513.

As indicated by block 514, a step of graphically displaying a number ofpages remaining in the book is performed. The number of pages remainingin the book can be displayed in the sixth portion 188 of the touchscreen130 as illustrated in FIG. 4. The number of pages remaining in the bookcan be graphically displayed using either an image of a number of pages,a dark line as a drop shadow, or a group of parallel lines to indicaterelative depth by page number in a given document. When the current pageis one of the early pages in the book, the drop shadow or graphicalimage depth is relatively deep, indicating that there is a significantportion of the book remaining to be read. When the current page is nearthe middle of the book, the drop shadow or graphical image depth is halfas deep. When nearing the end of the book, the drop shadow or graphicalimage depth becomes very thin indicating that the reader is almost atthe end of the book. As a result, the user can determine at a glance howmuch of the book has been read, and their relative position within thebook just as a standard paper book. As an alternative to using a topportion of the touchscreen for graphically displaying the number ofpages remaining in the book, a side edge and/or a bottom edge of thetouchscreen 130 can be utilized to provide this graphical display.

As indicated by block 516, a step of determining if a bookmark isassociated with the current page is performed. If a bookmark isassociated with the current page, then a step of displaying a bookmarkgraphic is performed as indicated by block 520.

As indicated by block 522, a step of determining if the current page isdog-eared is performed. If the current page is dog-eared, then a step ofdisplaying a dog ear graphic is performed as indicated by block 524.

As indicated by block 526, a step of determining whether an annotationexists for the current page is performed. If there is an annotationassociated with the current page, then a step of displaying a notemarker icon is performed as indicated by block 530.

FIG. 30 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of anannotation routine. Such an annotation routine is executed in the stepindicated by block 464 in FIG. 28.

As indicated by block 540, a step of displaying a window for displayingthe annotation is performed. As indicated by block 542, a step ofdisplaying a soft keyboard on the touchscreen 130 is performed. The softkeyboard is provided to receive a plurality of keystroke events to formthe annotation.

After displaying the soft keyboard and the annotation window, a step ofreceiving a keystroke event is performed as indicated by block 544. Asindicated by block 546, a branching operation is performed based uponthe keystroke event received in block 544. If the keystroke event isindicative of the user selecting either an alphanumeric key or asymbolic key on the soft keyboard, then a step of displaying a characterassociated with the key is performed as indicated by block 560. Thecharacter associated with the key is displayed within the annotationwindow. After displaying the character, flow of the routine is directedback to block 544 wherein a subsequent keystroke event is received.

Referring back to the branching step indicated by block 546, if thekeystroke event is indicative of a user selecting the close key from thesoft keyboard, then a step of closing the soft keyboard is performed asindicated by block 562. A step of closing the annotation window is alsoperformed, as indicated by block 564. As indicated by block 566, a stepof displaying a note marker icon on the page is performed. Thereafter,execution of the annotation subroutine is completed.

With reference again to the branching step performed in block 546, ifthe keystroke event is indicative of the user selecting the notescollection key, then a step of communicating the annotation to anexternal personal computer is performed as indicated by block 570. Aftercommunicating the annotation to the personal computer, flow of theroutine is directed back to block 544 wherein a subsequent keystrokeevent is received.

FIG. 31 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of a quotecapture subroutine. Such a quote capture subroutine can be performed toprovide the step indicated by block 466 in FIG. 28.

Prior to entering the quote capture subroutine, a user-initiated eventwas received in the electronic book which selects a portion of the textdisplayed on the touchscreen. After receiving the user-initiated event,a plurality of text marking options, including a quote capture option,is displayed, and a user-initiated event indicative of a user selectingthe quote capture option is received.

As indicated by block 580, a step of storing quote data representativeof the portion of the text is performed. The quote data is stored in theinternal machine-readable storage medium 154 illustrated in FIG. 3.

As indicated by block 582, a step of storing source data whichidentifies the source of the quote data is performed. The source datacan be representative of the author of the book, the title of the book,a copyright date of the book, and/or a publisher of the book. The sourcedata is stored in the internal machine-readable storage medium 154 fromFIG. 3.

As indicated by block 584, a step is performed of maintaining the quotedata and the source data in the internal machine-readable storage mediumwhen the removable machine-readable storage medium is removed from theelectronic book. As a result of this step, subsequent steps can beperformed based upon the quote data and the source data when theremovable machine-readable storage medium is removed. Specifically, astep of retrieving the quote data and the source data from the internalmachine-readable storage medium can be performed when the removablemachine-readable storage medium is removed from the electronic book.Thereafter, a step of displaying the portion of the text represented bythe quote data and source information represented by the source data canbe performed.

FIG. 32 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of a dogear subroutine. Such a dog ear subroutine is executed in the stepindicated by block 490 in FIG. 27.

As indicated by block 590, a step is performed of determining a durationin which a dog ear portion of the touchscreen is held. A step ofcomparing the duration to a predetermined threshold is performed asindicated by block 592. The predetermined threshold can be about asecond. If the duration is less than the predetermined threshold, then astep of determining whether the current page has a dog ear is performedas indicated by block 594. If the current page does not have a dog ear,then a step of storing an indication that the current page be dog-earedis performed as indicated by block 596. Further, a step of displaying adog ear graphic in an upper corner portion of the touchscreen 130 isperformed as indicated by block 600. Thereafter, execution of the dogear subroutine is completed.

With reference to blocks 592 and 594, if the duration is greater than orequal to the predetermined threshold or if the current page is alreadydog-eared, then a step of displaying a dog-eared dialog box is performedas indicated by block 602. Within the dog-eared dialog box, a list ofall marked pages is displayed. Further, an option to show markscorresponding to all of the marked pages along an edge of each page isdisplayed.

As indicated by block 604, a user-initiated event is received. Asindicated by block 606, a branching step is performed based upon theuser-initiated event received. If the user-initiated event is indicativeof a user selecting a page number from the list of marked pages, then astep of setting the current page to the selected page number isperformed as indicated by block 610. If the user-initiated event isindicative of the user selecting the marking option, then a step ofdisplaying marks corresponding to the dog-eared pages along an edge ofthe page is performed as indicated by block 612.

FIG. 33 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of apacing control subroutine. The pacing control subroutine is executed inthe step indicated by block 472 in FIG. 25.

As indicated by block 620, a step of determining a number of pagesremaining in the book is performed. As indicated by block 622, a step ofdetermining a current reading pace of the user is performed.

Based upon the number of pages remaining in the book, a step ofcalculating one or more estimated completion times is performed asindicated by block 624. A first estimated completion time can becalculated by dividing the number of words or pages remaining in thebook by the current reading pace of the user. As a result, the firstestimated completion time estimates how long it would take the user tocomplete the book at his or her current reading pace. A second estimatedcompletion time is calculated by dividing the number of words or pagesremaining in the book by a desired reading pace. The second estimatedcompletion time estimates how long it would take the user to completethe book at the desired reading pace.

As indicated by block 626, a step of displaying each estimatedcompletion time is performed. Each estimated completion time can bedisplayed within a corresponding sentence as illustrated in FIG. 15.

As indicated by block 630, a step of calculating a necessary readingpace to satisfy a predetermined reading goal is performed. Thepredetermined reading goal can be in the form of a time duration withinwhich a user wishes to complete the pages remaining in the book. Here,the necessary reading pace is calculated by dividing the number of pagesremaining in the book by the time duration. A step of displaying thenecessary reading pace to satisfy the reading goal is then performed asindicated by block 632.

As indicated by block 634, a step of displaying one or more graphicalpacing controls is performed. As illustrated in FIG. 15, the one or moregraphical pacing controls can include a graphical slider bar such as thegraphical slider bar 294 used for modifying the desired reading pace,and a graphical switch such as the graphical switch 296 which is usedfor enabling and disabling an automatic pacing of the text using apacing routine.

As indicated by block 636, a user-initiated event is received. Asindicated by block 640, if the user-initiated event is indicative of theuser selecting the page back portion of the touchscreen 130, thenexecution of the pacing control subroutine is terminated. Uponterminating the pacing control subroutine, the system control page isdisplayed on the touchscreen 130.

If the user-initiated event is not indicative of the user selecting thepage back portion, then a step of updating a pacing parameter based onthe user-initiated event is performed as indicated by block 642.Examples of the pacing parameter include the desired reading pace andthe reading goal. After updating the pacing parameter, flow of thesubroutine is directed back to block 624 to recalculate an estimatedcompletion time and the necessary reading pace.

FIG. 34 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of thefont selection subroutine. The font selection subroutine is executed inblock 414 in the event loop of FIG. 25.

As indicated by block 650, a step of displaying a plurality of wordsusing a corresponding plurality of combinations of different fonts anddifferent sizes is performed. More specifically, each word is displayedusing a specific font and a specific size in accordance with thecombination corresponding thereto. Optionally, the step of displayingthe plurality of words can include displaying a respective font name foreach of the combinations. As another option, the step of displaying theplurality of words can include displaying a single textual expressionusing the corresponding plurality of combinations.

As indicated by block 652, a step of receiving a user-initiated eventindicative of the user selecting one word of the plurality of words isperformed. This selection indicates which font/size combination isdesired by the user.

As indicated by block 654, a step of updating a primary font parameterand a primary size parameter is performed. The primary font parameterand the primary size parameter are updated in accordance with thefont/size combination selected by the user. As indicated by block 656, astep of automatically returning to displaying the title page isperformed after receiving the user-initiated event selecting the oneword. Thereafter, a subsequent step of displaying text of a bookincludes displaying the text using the primary font in a size at leastthe primary size.

FIG. 35 is a flow diagram of steps performed in an embodiment of thesystem control subroutine. The system control subroutine is executed inthe step indicated by block 416 in the event loop of FIG. 25.

As indicated by block 660, a step of displaying a plurality of graphicalcontrols for setting system parameters is performed. The systemparameters can include display parameters such as a contrast parameter,a tint parameter, and a color parameter. The system parameters can alsoinclude a sound parameter.

As indicated by block 662, a step of receiving a user-initiated event isperformed. If the user-initiated event is indicative of the userselecting the page back portion of the touchscreen, as indicated byblock 664, then execution of the system control subroutine is completed.For other user-initiated events, a step of updating a system parameteris performed as indicated by block 668.

FIG. 36 is a flow chart summarizing steps performed to provide a methodof displaying at least one reading metric in the electronic book. Asindicated by block 700, the method includes a step of readingmachine-readable data from a machine-readable storage medium installedin the electronic book. The machine-readable data is representative oftext of a book. As indicated by block 702, the method further includes astep of displaying at least one page of the text represented by themachine-readable data on a display device in the electronic book.

A reading pace of a user is monitored over the at least one page, asindicated by the step of block 704, and displayed on the display deviceas indicated by the step of block 706. The step of monitoring thereading pace can include monitoring a frequency of receiving at leastone user-initiated event requesting a display of a subsequent page ofthe text, and determining the reading pace based upon the frequency. Thestep of displaying the reading pace can include displaying the readingpace in a form of a sentence.

A reading metric in the form of an estimated completion time for aportion of the book can also be displayed. As indicated by block 708, astep of determining an amount of information remaining in the portion ofthe book is performed. An estimated completion time for the portion ofthe book is calculated based upon the reading pace and the amount ofinformation in the step indicated by block 710. The estimated completiontime is displayed in the step indicated by block 712. The estimatedcompletion time and an amount of information remaining in the portion ofthe book can be displayed in the form of a sentence to facilitateuser-friendliness of the electronic book.

A second estimated completion time can be calculated by receiving adesired reading pace from the user, as indicated by block 714. A step ofcalculating the second estimated completion time is performed, asindicated by block 716, based upon the desired reading pace and theamount of information remaining in the portion of the book. As indicatedby block 718, the second estimated completion time is displayed on thedisplay device. The second estimated completion time can also bedisplayed in a form of a sentence.

A further reading metric is based upon a reading goal for the user. Asindicated by block 720, a step of receiving the reading goal from theuser is performed. The reading goal is received by an input device, suchas the touchscreen 130, in the electronic book. The reading goal caninclude, for example, a time goal within which a predetermined portionof the book is to be read.

As indicated by block 722, a step of calculating a required reading paceto satisfy the reading goal is performed. The required reading pace isdisplayed in the step indicated by block 724.

A still further reading metric is based upon a remaining powering timefor a battery which powers the electronic book. As indicated by block726, a step of determining the remaining powering time for the batteryis performed. An amount of the book which can be read during theremaining powering time is calculated, as indicated by the step in block728, based upon either the monitored reading pace of the user or thedesired reading pace. The amount is displayed in the step indicated byblock 730.

Thus, there has been described herein a concept, as well as severalembodiments including preferred embodiments of an electronic book and amethod of displaying at least one reading metric therefor.

Because the various embodiments of the present invention provide afeature for displaying at least one reading metric in an electronicbook, they provide a significant improvement in that the user can easilymanage his/her reading time and/or reading pace in accordance with theat least one reading metric and/or at least one reading goal.

Additionally, the various embodiments of the present invention furtherassists a user in managing his/her reading time by calculating anddisplaying an amount of a book which can be read based upon a readingpace of the user and a remaining powering time of a battery which powersthe electronic book.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thedisclosed-invention may be modified in numerous ways and may assume manyembodiments other than the preferred form specifically set out anddescribed above.

Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims to cover allmodifications of the invention which fall within the true spirit andscope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of displaying at least one readingmetric in an electronic book, the method comprising the steps of:readingmachine-readable data from a machine-readable storage medium installedin the electronic book, the machine-readable data representative of textof a book; displaying at least one page of the text represented by themachine-readable data; monitoring a reading pace; determining an amountof information remaining in a portion of the book; calculating anestimated completion time for the portion of the book based on thereading pace and the amount of information; and displaying the estimatedcompletion time.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of displayingthe reading pace includes displaying the reading pace in a form of asentence.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic book ispowered by a battery, the method further comprising the stepsof:determining a remaining powering time for the battery; calculating anamount of the book which can be read during the remaining powering timeat the reading pace; and displaying the amount.
 4. The method of claim 3wherein the step of displaying the estimated completion time includesdisplaying the estimated completion time and the amount of informationremaining in a form of a sentence.
 5. The method of claim 3 furthercomprising the steps of:receiving a desired reading pace from the user;calculating a second estimated completion time for the portion of thebook; and displaying the second estimated completion time.
 6. The methodof claim 5 wherein the step of displaying the second estimatedcompletion time includes displaying the second estimated completion timein a form of a sentence.
 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising thesteps of:receiving a reading goal from the user; calculating a requiredreading pace to satisfy the reading goal; and displaying the requiredreading pace.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the reading goal includesa time goal within which a predetermined portion of the book is to beread.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic book is powered bya battery, the method further comprising the steps of:receiving adesired reading pace from the user; determining a remaining poweringtime for the battery; calculating an amount of the book which can beread during the remaining powering time at the desired reading pace; anddisplaying the amount.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step ofmonitoring the reading pace includes:receiving at least oneuser-initiated event requesting a display of a subsequent page of thetext; monitoring a frequency of receiving the at least oneuser-initiated event; and determining the reading pace based upon thefrequency.
 11. An electronic book comprising: a processor operative toread machine-readable data representative of text of a book; andadisplay device in communication with the processor to display at leastone page of the text represented by the machine-readable data; whereinthe processor monitors a reading pace of a user over the at least onepage and commands the display device to display the reading pace; theprocessor is operative to determine an amount of information remainingin a portion of the book and to calculate an estimated completion timefor the portion of the book based on the reading pace and the amount ofinformation, and wherein the display device displays the estimatedcompletion time.
 12. The electronic book of claim 11 wherein the readingpace is displayed in a form of a sentence.
 13. The electronic book ofclaim 11 wherein the processor is operative to determine a remainingpowering time for a battery which powers the electronic book and tocalculate an amount of the book which can be read during the remainingpowering time at the reading pace, and wherein the display devicedisplays the amount.
 14. The electronic book of claim 13 wherein theprocessor is operative to receive a desired reading pace from the userand to calculate a second estimated completion time for the portion ofthe book, and wherein the display device displays the second estimatedcompletion time.
 15. The electronic book of claim 11 wherein theprocessor is operative to receive a reading goal from the user and tocalculate a required reading pace to satisfy the reading goal, andwherein the display device displays the required reading pace.
 16. Theelectronic book of claim 15 wherein the reading goal includes a timegoal within which a predetermined portion of the book is to be read.